Randhir Kapoor—or was it Hasrat Jaipuri—sang in Kishore Kumar’s voice— tickticktickticktickaticktick, chalti jaaye ghadi (time keeps ticking) and Elon Musk continued with tickticktickticktick-blue-tickticktick yaniki time so pay up for that blue tick that marks you as a Twitter elite sorry, I mean verified account, confirming you are you.

Twitter’s blue ticks are supposedly given to accounts of public figures. They verify identity, but also signify that you matter. Now that you can buy a blue tick there are many hai taubas that just anyone could be admitted to the Gymkhana Club of online life. Of course, this is always couched as concerns for the greater good. Former Twitter global communications head Brandon Borrman said, “currently, all users around the world had equal voices on the platform” but selling verification and higher visibility would “stratify” Twitter. Sure, we are all equal on Twitter, just like we are all equally influential on Instagram no matter how we look. Twitter—like everything—is stratified, by language, social identity, a certain verbal cleverness and the capacity to tweet a lot. Paying for this both messes with cultural capital, but also makes it explicit. The blue tick, as those who have it will never admit, is a status symbol, the Twitter equivalent of who gets to be on Koffee with Karan.